The first item on our agenda this afternoon is a statement on coronavirus by the First Minister, and I call on the First Minister.

Thank you, Llywydd. In today's statement I will provide Members with an update on the coronavirus regulations in Wales and on other important developments over the past three weeks. 

The latest review of restrictions was undertaken last week, and I announced the decisions taken in light of that review on Friday. In terms of the spread of coronavirus, I'm pleased to say that the virus continues to be effectively suppressed in Wales. But, despite these encouraging developments, we must remain cautious.

Since the Senedd last met on 5 August, important announcements have been made in relation to examination results, support for local government and the agricultural sector, as well as the establishment of the voluntary sector emergency fund.

Llywydd, the law requires the Welsh Ministers to review the coronavirus regulations every three weeks. This afternoon, I will set out for Members the public health context within which that review took place and summarise the key changes made to regulations.

The review process always begins by drawing together the latest evidence of the state of COVID-19 in Wales. Since the first tentative lifting of coronavirus restrictions in May, I have been able to report a continuing decline in the prevalence of the virus and the resulting ability further to ease restrictions. I'm pleased to report that this pattern was again apparent last week. The number of people in hospital as a result of the disease fell below 200 for the first time. No deaths were reported on five consecutive days. The number of daily infections and the positivity rate remained low in Wales.

However, as Members will know, the wider UK context has been more challenging, with rising numbers and reimposed restrictions across the island of Ireland and in both Scotland and England. Beyond the United Kingdom, the Welsh Government brought forward regulations to require quarantining for individuals returning to Wales from Croatia, Austria, and Trinidad and Tobago from 4.00 a.m. on Saturday 22 August. Since the Senedd last met, the same requirements have been applied to those returning from France and the Netherlands from Saturday 15 August.

The purpose of all this, Llywydd, is simply to be clear that the position we faced in Wales last week cannot be taken for granted. Wales is quite certainly not immune from the causes of difficulty elsewhere. Indeed, we have already faced spikes in infection in different parts of Wales since lockdown measures have been eased. To date, these have been effectively suppressed through the success of our test, trace, protect system. Members will have seen the most recent figures published on Thursday last. They confirm that, since the programme began, 90 per cent of all eligible cases have been contacted in Wales, with 90 per cent of their contacts, in turn, being successfully traced. Last week, the health Minister announced an additional £32 million to strengthen our testing system still further to address the additional demands we know will come with the winter.

Llywydd, all of this gives us confidence that local action can be taken effectively to respond to outbreaks of the virus in Wales. The coronavirus control plan, published on Tuesday of last week, sets out the practical ways in which that can go on being achieved. The contribution of local government to the plan is pivotal, and, on 10 August, my colleague Julie James agreed a further additional sum of £264 million for local authorities in Wales over the remainder of this financial year. This will provide the certainty needed for them to plan for the future.

From all of this, I hope colleagues will have a sense of the balancing act that underlies the decisions made at the end of the last three-week period. This was summed up by the chief medical officer in the advice he provides to the Government and which we publish as part of that process. Dr Atherton said:

'Viral transmission appears to remain low and stable in Wales but I remain concerned about the increase in cases in other UK nations, in Europe and in other parts of the world.'

This leads me

'to believe that we have very little headroom for further easement at the present time' and

'this is important given our imminent plans to reopen schools; a move which should be a very high priority for Wales.'

Well, Llywydd, in the light of that advice from the chief medical officer, the Cabinet decided last week to reserve the bulk of the headroom we have available to assist in the safe and successful reopening of schools in Wales as from 1 September, building on our successful experience of having schools open in Wales in June and July. Members will have seen the subsequent joint statement between—[Inaudible.]

Am I the only person not hearing the First Minister? No, I'm not. We seem to have lost the link to the First Minister. I can see that the health Minister is going in search of the First Minister. We'll just pause for a few seconds.

The First Minister is now on the health Minister's computer. Can he be unmuted? Yes. First Minister, can you hear us?

I can. Thank you and apologies for the continuing technical issues here. I had just summarised the advice of the chief medical officer and explained to Members how the Cabinet, taking that advice into account, had decided to use the headroom we have in Wales to focus on the safe and successful reopening of schools in Wales from 1 September.

In addition to those measures, the following easements were also included in last week's review of the regulations: from Saturday last, up to four households have been able to join together to form a single extended household, bringing together a wider range of family and friends; from the same day, a meal in an indoor regulated setting for up to 30 people has become possible for those celebrating a wedding or civil partnership or marking a funeral; from Saturday next, 29 August, provided the virus remains effectively suppressed, indoor visits to care homes will also become possible again. Stringent conditions will have to be attached to this development, given the risks involved, and I'm grateful to the office of the older person's commissioner and to Care Forum Wales for their involvement in the production of necessary guidelines. Casinos in Wales will also be able to reopen from next Saturday, subject to the now familiar suite of mitigation measures.

Finally, over these three weeks, Llywydd, we will pilot gatherings outdoors for events in the arts and sports, bringing together up to 100 people. As ever, in Wales, the Government's approach has been to plan, pilot and then, if possible, to extend the freedoms we are able to restore. Provided the pilot events are successful and the virus remains suppressed, our aim will be to extend outdoor gatherings of this sort more generally in future.

As in previous cycles, we will also use the current three weeks to look ahead. We will consider occupations that take place within individual households, such as music tuition. We will explore ways in which small indoor meetings could take place, for example, in community centres for purposes such as weight-loss classes and book clubs. And we will learn from pilots taking place elsewhere in professional sport, as we continue to work with the major events sector in Wales.

Llywydd, as I said earlier, the coronavirus crisis has not gone away. The months ahead will pose many challenges. While Government can plan, prepare and provide, it is the actions of each one as individual citizens that make the greatest difference. The considerable majority of people in Wales continue to act with great care to keep themselves and others safe. A small minority fail to do so. Their actions cause avoidable harm. They add to the pressures felt by our hard-pressed public services and they undermine everything that everyone else has worked so hard to achieve. As we enter the more challenging days of autumn and winter, we need everyone in Wales to play their part in keeping Wales safe. Diolch yn fawr.

Thank you, First Minister. Plaid Cymru leader, Adam Price. 

Diolch. First Minister, testing has been a key feature of the response to the coronavirus pandemic worldwide. Two weeks ago, researchers at Yale University secured emergency Food and Drug Administration approval for their saliva-based COVID-19 test. Now, there are two main advantages to a saliva test: it's less invasive, yet comparable in accuracy to the current test; and it costs as little as £1 per sample. So that means that, now, for the first time, we have a simple, quick, cheap means of conducting regular mass testing of the population. Even more exciting is a paper test developed by Harvard University that can produce results in minutes and can be done at home, without having to send it off to a laboratory. These are tests that are particularly designed to detect people who are infectious. As the epidemiologist Michael Mina has quoted quite colourfully, the fire department wants to detect somebody that's walking the streets with a flamethrower, not somebody lighting a match in their house. Routine mass testing of everyone in Wales once a week could be absolutely transformative, yet very affordable, particularly when we compare it to the continuing social and economic costs of lockdown restrictions. So, will the First Minister commit to exploring this exciting new possibility?

Well, Llywydd, I can assure Mr Price and other Members that the Welsh Government continues to explore all these possibilities. We are involved in experiments here in Wales of a number of antigen tests that may be able to provide results far more quickly than the current range of tests, but to do so in a way that is, as Adam Price said, Llywydd, comparable in accuracy to the testing regime we currently have. 

Adam Price is right, Llywydd, to point to the fact that there are many different possibilities emerging in this space. It's an important judgment for Government as to which one to endorse and not to spend a lot of money on a possibility that is rapidly overtaken by something that is emerging elsewhere, which is why I agree with what Mr Price said about making sure that we continue to scan all these different possibilities. Whichever one becomes, in the end, the most promising, it will be very important that it has proper regulatory approval here in the United Kingdom, so that citizens can be confident that the test they are being asked to use has been authentically scrutinised, that its safety is secure, that the results it provides can be relied upon and, of course, from a Welsh economy perspective, when we're in that position and able to test people quickly, accurately and safely, then it will undoubtedly add to the speed at which the economy can be reopened.

First Minister, lockdown has highlighted the importance of having a safe and secure home. Shelter Cymru estimates that 42 per cent of private tenants in Wales are vulnerable to no-fault evictions, which you promised in your conference address last year that you would ban. In addition, of course, in the wake of the pandemic, 40 per cent of renters in Wales are estimated to be falling behind on their rent. Of course, leaving people homeless at any time would be unforgivable, but doing so in the middle of a global pandemic would be particularly pernicious. In Scotland, there will be a six-month extension to the ban on evicting renters amid the COVID-19 pandemic, yet in Wales, at the moment, there's no similar commitment, despite Shelter calling for an extension. Can I urge the Welsh Government to do two things: firstly, extend the ban on evictions, whatever the tenants' circumstances are, until the pandemic is over, and, secondly, emulate the Scottish approach and legislate to end no-fault evictions altogether, so that a tenant can only be evicted in ordinary times due to unacceptable or unlawful behaviour? 

Llywydd, let me begin by saying that the Member will be aware of everything the Welsh Government has done to deal with the position of homeless people at the start of the coronavirus crisis, and the remarkable success that local authorities and third sector organisations have had in being able to respond to the housing needs of those in the most difficult position. And, of course, we do not want to see those people, or others in other forms of tenure, threatened with homelessness here in Wales; there is more than one way in which this issue can be addressed. Adam Price will be aware that the Welsh Government has extended the notice period to six months here in Wales, which in many practical ways has the same effect as the actions taken by the Scottish Government; there's more than one route to solving the problem. We're agreed that the problem needs to be solved, and we've taken some action here in Wales already. 

The Welsh Government is committed to bringing legislation forward to the Senedd during the remainder of this Assembly term. It will deal with the worst outcrops of no-fault evictions, and I remain committed to bringing forward further legislation, if we're in a position to do so, in the next Senedd term to complete that job. And I look forward to the support of the Member's party in making sure, in the very challenging circumstances that the Senedd as well as the Welsh Government faces in scrutinising legislation during the remaining months of this term, that we act together to get that legislation onto the statute book in order to provide protections for people who would otherwise find themselves on the receiving end of no-fault evictions. 

Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Paul Davies. 

Diolch, Llywydd. First Minister, as we approach the end of this month, the UK Government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme will finish, a scheme that has been universally welcomed by the hospitality industry and has helped support businesses and keep businesses afloat across Wales over the past few weeks. Of course, as we enter the autumn and winter months, it's crucial that there is still support for hospitality businesses across Wales, particularly as many will face reduced sales as families return to work and children return to school. First Minister, the Welsh hospitality industry may well struggle and have to consider taking difficult decisions, and its workers may face the very real possibility of redundancy.

We already know from the Welsh Government's latest survey that two thirds of tourism businesses still have staff on furlough, and that half of businesses are still not operating at full capacity. Indeed, the industry is not helped by Welsh Government Ministers telling people that some traditional socialising should be a thing of the past, at a time when so many businesses and jobs are reliant on customers coming through their doors. Therefore, First Minister, can you tell us what strategy the Welsh Government has for specifically supporting the Welsh hospitality industry over the short and, indeed, the medium term? And can you tell us what additional funding will be made available to the hospitality sector to help support businesses and jobs over the next few months?

Llywydd, I agree about the importance of the hospitality and tourism industry. I'm glad the Welsh Government has been able to work closely with the industry in its safe and, I think, on the whole, successful reopening in Wales. I know that there are many businesses who'd had a very, very challenging early part of the year who have been able to take advantage of business that has come their way in the period since the restrictions on the industry were lifted. 

I agree with what the leader of the opposition says about the challenges that are yet to come. We look to the UK Government not to bring its furlough scheme to a blunt end. There is a need for continuing support; targeted support, not a continuation of the scheme as originally envisaged, but where there are industries that are unable to resume as they would have previously, then further support from the UK Government is important.

We will go on supporting the industry to extend the season here in Wales. That is one of the ways in which we can help the industry to survive through this very, very difficult year. Having missed out on the early part of the season, anything we can do to persuade people to continue to visit and to continue to take holidays in the United Kingdom, and in Wales specifically, through September and into October, and to extend the season in other ways as well, will, I believe, be part of a formula that the industry will develop alongside the Government, in order to be able to bridge between the very difficult circumstances this year and what we hope will be possible for next year.

Let me say to the Member that he is very mistaken, I think, to criticise what was said by my colleague Vaughan Gething. He was simply pointing to the evidence we have in Wales of coronavirus flare-ups that are being driven by the behaviour of people in settings where their normal restraints and their normal good attention to the way in which coronavirus can be suppressed evaporates. That is not in the interest of the hospitality sector and it's certainly not in the interest of public health in Wales, and the warnings were very well made and would be very well heeded.

Of course, whilst cases in Wales remain relatively low, as you refer in your statement, First Minister, we must ensure, where possible, that routine NHS services and treatments that can go ahead should go ahead. There are people across Wales desperately waiting for surgeries and treatments that, if left, could have a significant impact on how they live their lives, and it's absolutely essential that every possible avenue is explored to ensure that they receive treatment as safely as possible in a timely manner. For example, the latest figures show a worrying rise in the number of patients waiting for treatment over 36 weeks and over 52 weeks at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, a health board that is directly under your control. These are real people, First Minister, desperately waiting for treatment, and many of whom are in severe discomfort and pain.

Now, worryingly, the British Medical Association's latest tracker survey of doctors has shown that 60 per cent of doctors said that they were not very or not at all confident in their local health economy or community services to meet demand as normal NHS services resume, and that is something that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. Can you, therefore, tell us what urgent steps the Welsh Government is now taking to ensure that those people who are waiting for treatment across Wales will be able to access services as quickly as possible? And what discussions is the Welsh Government having with the medical profession on how it can best support those working in the NHS to address the backlog of surgeries and treatments right across Wales?

Well, Llywydd, the NHS in Wales has been reopening now over many weeks, and every time we come to the end of a three-week cycle, we discuss with the chief medical officer and others the extent to which we can use any headroom we have to allow those services to continue to expand safely, and that work cannot just be magicked away by some fine words about needing to make things better. The health service will face the restrictions that are imposed by coronavirus over many months to come. Productivity in theatres, for example, is radically affected by the need to clean a theatre between every operation that is carried out, and no matter how much we might like it to be better than that, those measures are absolutely essential to safeguard the safety of patients and of staff in the health service.

So, while we continue to expand the amount of treatment that is available routinely, in terms of planned operations, in terms of cancer treatments, in terms of primary care, none of that will provide us with a straightforward path back to where the health service was able to be prior to coronavirus. We discuss that all the time with our medical staff and with our organisations to try to find better ways in which we can resume services for more people in a more timely fashion, but I just have to be straightforward, both with the Member and with others, that that is going to be a continuing struggle for the Welsh health service and for all other health services in the United Kingdom and beyond.

The leader of the Brexit Party group, Mark Reckless.

Thank you for your statement, First Minister. You said that, in Wales, the coronavirus was effectively suppressed. You then went on to contrast that with the wider UK context, saying it has become more challenging, with rising numbers and reimposed restrictions across the island of Ireland, which was included in the UK context, and in both Scotland and England. Is it the case that Wrexham has had the highest infection rate of anywhere in the UK? If so, that wasn't clear from your statement. What do you propose to do about that, if so?

On the issue of school masks and requiring some secondary school children potentially in some contexts to wear those, what is the situation in Wales? I understand that the committee was meeting last night to advise, but surely when we're having this Plenary session, and you as First Minister are giving an update, is it not right that you should tell us what is proposed in terms of wearing masks in secondary schools or not, so you can be questioned and scrutinised on that by Members of the Senedd?

You mentioned extending the season in terms of tourism, and certainly that would be welcome, albeit weather dependent. Is it not the case, though, that the message has gone out too often that people aren't welcome in Wales or that Wales has been closed down for longer or more stringently, and will that not put people off potentially coming for our tourist industry?

I welcome the general liberalising trend of amending regulations. I think we're voting on three of those later, which we propose to support, except for amendment No. 4. Clearly, it's good to see swimming pools and various other facilities reopening, but if the virus is effectively suppressed in Wales, as you said, why is it necessary or proportionate to be giving additional powers to enforcement officers to be going around issuing enforcement and closure notices and again trying to micromanage and mandate across Wales what every business will do, as if the Welsh Government is the fount of all knowledge, rather than believing and testing and allowing common sense from businesses who know their businesses and the people who use them best to come to sensible decisions? We question whether you have the balance right in that area.

You mentioned that while there has been some uptick in cases across the UK, on a UK and Wales basis, we've had a much better trend in terms of deaths, but also in terms of hospital and ICU admissions, and I just wonder what assessment you make of that. Is it simply a question of the cohort, of the nature and type of people and particularly age of those who are being tested and found in some cases to be positive, or is there more promising developments—some improvement in treatment that we have? Is there any possibility that the virus is becoming less fatal or less damaging and how much longer will we have to see death rates remain this low, given the case rate, before you begin wondering whether that might be the case?

Finally, in the comparison you make across Europe, with many EU countries now being higher than the UK, you didn't mention Sweden, which, of course, has been coming down and is now significantly below many of the European countries that imposed very stringent lockdowns. Does that not show the advantages of trusting in people's common sense, rather than trying to micromanage everything from the centre, and is it possible that your restrictions and management of the coronavirus have the effect of dragging out the pandemic for a longer period? Thank you.

Llywydd, there were a large number of questions there. I'll try and address them briefly, each one.

I referred to the island of Ireland because the rise in coronavirus cases and the reimposition of restrictions has happened both in the Republic and in Northern Ireland as well and it is inevitable that there's an interplay between the circulation of the virus in one part of Ireland and another.

As far as Wrexham is concerned, numbers in Wrexham are down significantly this week. I think there was a 70 per cent fall in the number of new cases in Wrexham last week. At Wrexham Maelor Hospital, which has been one of the focuses of rising numbers previously, it's now 21 days in which one staff member in the hospital has fallen ill to a healthcare-acquired infection of coronavirus, and it's 18 days since the last patient became ill in the same way. The Rowan Foods outbreak was declared over on Friday of last week, there having been 28 days since any case there. So, while the Member is right to point to the fact that Wrexham has been a cause for concern, it's a rapidly improving picture there.

As for face coverings in education, I think we said yesterday that we would make a statement before the end of today. That is still the case. We remain in discussions with a variety of important interests—local authorities, teaching unions, the children's commissioner here in Wales. But I will say this to the Member: that the approach we would take will be consistent with the approach we set out in our local lockdown plan published last week. There is a potential part to be played by face coverings in secondary schools in a local context where numbers rise above a certain threshold, where particular buildings don't allow the safe circulation of young people around a school. It is for a local determination in that set of particular circumstances that those closest to them are best equipped to assess, against guidance that we will provide to them.

I'm sorry if the Member feels that people have felt not welcome to come to Wales; that's never been the message of the Welsh Government, quite certainly. People are very welcome to come to Wales and then to help us all to keep Wales safe by acting responsibly when they are here, and that is the way that almost everybody who visits Wales behaves. And actually, I think the figures don't bear out the Member's anxiety, because Wales has been very full indeed of visitors during this school holiday period, with many people from both within Wales and beyond coming to enjoy everything that we have to offer.

I don't agree with the Member on enforcement powers; while the vast majority of businesses behave very responsibly and do all the right things, it is wrong that those good businesses can be undercut by others that, in a reckless way, fail to observe the regulations, and we've seen too many examples of that not to take action. It's not the Welsh Government that will take action; it is local authorities that have been given the powers. And in Wrexham, which the Member mentioned, we've had an example this week where an enforcement notice has had to be issued to a local business because the way in which it was being conducted contributed to a rising spike of coronavirus cases amongst its customers. And where that is the case—and I want it to be proportionate and I want it to be targeted, but where it is necessary—it is right that local authorities have the powers they need to act.

It's an interesting and important point the Member raises about the fall in the number of people in intensive care beds in Wales as a result of coronavirus, and I believe myself it will be a mixture of causes. Partly, it may be because the recent cases have been more amongst younger people rather than older people, and the course of the illness is likely to be less significant. But it is also because clinicians have learnt, over the months that we've had coronavirus, more effective ways of treating the condition earlier on. We've had a smaller rate of conversion of hospital admissions into ICU beds than any other part of the United Kingdom across the whole months of coronavirus, and that is partly because of the way clinicians have mobilised ways of responding to it.

I notice that the Member takes up the cause of his former colleague Mr Hamilton in regarding Sweden as a poster boy for those on the right of the political spectrum here in Wales. I welcome again his conversion as well to the cause of social democracy, but unfortunately, the Swedish case is not one that bears out his assertions. The number of people who have died from coronavirus in Sweden is at a level not seen by its nearest neighbours who took different courses of action. And while I've carefully studied the Swedish case, it doesn't lead me to believe that they have a formula that we would have been right to have applied in Wales.

First Minister, as you know, the failure of some supermarkets in Wales to observe social distancing regulations in Wales has been a source of continued concern to myself and my constituents. And while I appreciate the efforts of local authorities to enforce these regulations, I'd like to ask you for an update today on Welsh Government efforts to really drive home that message to supermarkets, particularly the larger ones like Tesco, which seem to have forgotten that we are in a pandemic—or so it appears. 

I'd also like to ask, First Minister, about mental health. Wales Mind has today published a report on the impact of the pandemic on mental health in Wales and it makes for very sobering reading, not just in terms of the impact on all of us in Wales, but also because one sixth of adults and one third of young people were unable to get the support that they needed during the lockdown, and that is despite Welsh Government making it very clear to health boards that mental health should be a priority. As we go into potentially a very difficult autumn and winter, which could take an even bigger toll on all our mental health, what steps will the Welsh Government take to ensure that people who need support during this period will be able to get it? Thank you.

Llywydd, I thank Lynne Neagle for both of those points. I, too, have seen a rise in the number of concerns raised directly with the Welsh Government by people who feel that some supermarkets have retreated too quickly from some of the safeguards they had in place earlier in the pandemic. It is by no means a universal picture; many supermarkets continue to work very hard to make sure that their premises are properly organised with staff on hand to assist and people reminded of the need to behave in a way that doesn't put other people at risk. But that clearly is not universal given the postbag I have seen and the points that Lynne Neagle has made. As a result of that, our colleague Lesley Griffiths wrote again to supermarkets at the start of this week reminding them of what the law requires here in Wales. As the Member will know, it's a bit of a continuous battle to remind some organisations that operate beyond Wales that the law in Wales can be different, and their legal obligations here are of exactly the same order as they would be if those regulations were made elsewhere. Lesley Griffiths has a meeting—one of her regular meetings—with the supermarket group that we work with here in Wales later this afternoon, and she will be reinforcing those points with them again there. 

As for mental health, I've had an opportunity briefly to look at the Mind Cymru survey. It is a sobering document with over 900 people responding to it, and as we've said many times in these sessions, there is more than one form of harm that comes from coronavirus. The measures that we have had to take in order to suppress its circulation have undoubtedly had an impact on the mental health and well-being of people who've had to bear the brunt of that in terms of isolation and restrictions and so on. Ahead of the winter—and I agree with Lynne Neagle, there's a challenging period coming—what we're doing in the Welsh Government is to try to reinforce those tier 0 and tier 1 services that are most readily available, including strengthening the Community Advice and Listening Line mental health helpline, launching the young person's mental health toolkit and then working with our health services, which did do their very best to keep as much of mental health as they could going during the pandemic, albeit in different ways. I know that the absence of face-to-face discussions is particularly challenging for some people with mental health conditions, but we are working with our local health boards to see how they will be able to maintain those essential services as well as gearing themselves up for what may be additional mental health demands as the long-term impacts of responding to the virus become clearer.

And in a phrase that the Member will very well recognise, we have to make this everybody's business. It cannot just be left to the health service alone. Employers have a responsibility, schools will have a responsibility, we each of us have some responsibility in our own lives to think about and to make some provision for the mental health and well-being of our fellow citizens, particularly those who have found this experience the most difficult and most stressful of all.

Does the First Minister acknowledge that the further education sector faces a great deal of unacceptable uncertainty as students return for the new term? For example, it is unclear as to how they will be resourced for the additional cost to be able to educate students, particularly vocational students, safely in a socially distanced way, and the potential £10 million extra pay bill that colleges will be facing if pay awards are granted with no guarantee as to how that will be met.

Does the First Minister accept that this does not sit well with the constant rhetoric from his party about the parity of esteem between vocational and academic learning? And will he undertake today to discuss urgently with the education Minister to ensure that these immediate issues are addressed as a matter of urgency and that this is the last time, under his leadership, that the further education sector gets left behind?

Well, Llywydd, I don't agree with many of those points. The Member points to pay awards in the FE sector; the Welsh Government does not strike pay awards in the FE sector. The sector itself is responsible for its own pay bill. It cannot strike an award and then believe that the Welsh Government is somehow to be responsible for its own actions. There's got to be a sense of responsibility in the sector, not simply thinking that it can always point to somebody else when things are challenging, and things are challenging.

Uncertainty, I'm afraid, is part of the daily experience of all public services in the coronavirus context. It's not simply possible for the Government just to invent ways in which all uncertainty can be lifted off the shoulders of those services. We certainly work closely with the FE sector. I was able, myself, to meet with leaders of FE colleges, alongside the education Minister, some weeks ago. I was very impressed by their determination to do everything they can to support young people during these really challenging times. 

The Welsh Government will do everything we can to support that sector, because I do very firmly believe that parity of esteem between the education of those young people who choose to shape their futures through further education, alongside young people who make other choices, is absolutely important. It won't be achieved simply by thinking that the difficulties that are faced as a result of a pandemic crisis can be just wiped away by the Welsh Government. Working with the sector is the way that we will tackle it; we can't substitute ourselves for it. 

First Minister, I just wonder if you can explain something to me, please. Given that our premier football leagues here in Wales have now been given dates to go back and start matches, which are of course welcome, could you please let us know the dates the rest of football, grass-roots football—we're talking about our lower leagues and children's football—can return to play matches and start their seasons too, please?

I cannot understand the logic that this hasn't been announced yet when our premier leagues—and our lower leagues are all part-time players, and, of course, our children are going back to school and yet can't play outdoor matches. When you consider that it's all kicking off soon over the border in England, I just don't understand it. It's paramount now that we give the green light as soon as possible to people being able to start playing football matches, even before the season dates are announced, so they can prepare and plan and get ready for the season ahead. And can I also make a plea, First Minister, that it's not done the day before—that they're not given a day's notice? As a former secretary of a junior football club, it takes a lot of time to plan for the seasons ahead. Therefore, can you give, with plenty of notice, as soon as possible, the green light for these matches to kick off here, please? Thank you. 

Llywydd, I don't think I can be made responsible for the Member's lack of understanding. As soon as it is safely possible to reopen parts of the football season and different leagues in Wales, we will do so. The Member has to surely understand that public health is more important than football and we will not allow—. I see the Member gesturing at me. I'm sorry that her lack of understanding has yet to be rectified.

When a premier football club resumes, it has all the resources that a premier club is able to draw on. It has all the regulated nature of the settings in which they operate; none of that is true in some of the parts of football to which she referred. There simply isn't the structure there that you can rely upon in that way to be confident that all that activity can be resumed in the way that does not put players, officials and the public at risk. That will always be the first thought of this Welsh Government. It may not be her first thought, but it is ours, and when it is safe to do so, then we will resume activity in that setting and we won't do it before that. When it is safe, we will have discussed it with the sector; of course we will have drawn up joint plans with them—it will not come as a surprise to them. Unlike a Government of her party elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the approach in Wales has always been to plan first and then to announce, not to make an announcement and then wonder how it's going to be possible to make that happen.

I appreciate that the pandemic has been a terrible tragedy for many families, but it is also an opportunity for us all to rethink the way we live our lives. Just as the coronavirus pandemic hasn't gone away, nor indeed has the climate emergency or the obesity emergency. So, I'm delighted that there's a company called GOiA who's going to be trialling e-scooters in Cardiff very shortly, which will give opportunities for people who live in the uplands of my constituency to have a real alternative to getting around to the motor car. But young people ought to be able to get uphill under their own steam, and I know that the Welsh Government has done a great deal to assist third sector organisations to help people fix up old bicycles lying around in garages and back gardens. But not everybody has that luxury, and I'm very pleased that at least one secondary school in my constituency has attempted to bulk buy everyday bicycles for its pupils, but has found this completely impossible because there is such a shortage of bicycles. High-street manufacturers report that as soon as a bike comes back because it's not satisfactory, it goes out the same day. There are significant waiting times for bicycles manufactured abroad because of the pandemic and because of delivery delays.

So, I just wondered what the Welsh Government can do to help people really change the way they operate. And with pupils returning to school next week, what can the Welsh Government do to combat the misnomered 'school run' to maximise the number of people who are walking, scooting or cycling to school?

Llywydd, can I thank Jenny Rathbone for those questions? I thank her particularly for what she said at the very beginning of her question. It does always worry me that, because in these sessions we concentrate on the fact that things have improved here in Wales, we don't sometimes pause to remember those families for whom coronavirus has been a very direct tragedy. And while the number of people dying from coronavirus in Wales has reduced significantly, there still are, every week, families who face that set of circumstances, and I thank the Member for just reminding us to pause a moment and think of all of that and what that will mean, not just now but for the future for those families too.

I'm glad to welcome what she said about the firm from the Cynon Valley manufacturing e-scooters. The legislation for private scooters is not actually devolved and it's the Department for Transport in the United Kingdom who is responsible for licensing and regulating their use. But we have worked with the UK Department for Transport to promote the option of trials here in Wales. It's for local authorities to express an interest in opting into those trials, and we've worked with the DfT to make sure that that is promoted—that possibility—here in Wales.

Of course, what Jenny Rathbone says, Llywydd, is right: bicycles are very hard to get hold of, and it's one of the more positive parts of the whole experience that people have become more interested in active travel. We've announced record investment in that here in Wales: £5 million of the £38 million announced recently by my colleague Lee Waters is specifically for safer routes in communities, and that is aimed specifically at routes to schools, and £2 million of the £15.4 million announced for COVID-proof travel has also been specifically set aside for schemes around schools. So, I hope very much that people will retain their interest in more active forms of travel, that schools grasp the opportunity that is there, and that the Welsh Government can play our part by making sure that funding is available and that, through the other actions we take—the Member referred to the actions that we're taking to support the recycling of cycles—we do our bit to make sure that more opportunities come people's way in that way too.

First Minister, Shelter has found that 15,000 tenants in Wales face losing their homes due to rent arrears accrued during the lockdown. These debts have come about through no fault of their own, and uncertainty about the future is plaguing them. It's astonishing that in Wales it's still possible to be evicted into homelessness. I was glad, of course, that tenants have been given four more weeks of certainty that they can't be evicted, but that isn't enough. Those four weeks represent four more weeks of anguish, when desperate people will be wondering whether they will have a roof over their head come the autumn.

We've heard earlier that your party voted to ban evictions and no-fault evictions, and yet you still haven't banned them. Your Government has done a lot of good work to nearly eradicate homelessness during the lockdown, but your inaction in supporting tenants risks undoing all that work. So, First Minister, will you now act to ban evictions into homelessness, to give certainty and solace to the thousands of tenants who are worried that they don't just have a stay of eviction, but a promise that they are secure in their homes? Will you join me and Plaid Cymru in affirming that housing should be a human right?

Well, Llywydd, I think I answered these questions earlier when the leader of her party put the same points to me at the start of proceedings. I set out there the actions we have already taken to prevent the eviction of people into homelessness here in Wales, and I reminded Members then that the Welsh Government has legislation that we will be promoting through the Senedd during the remainder of this term that will have a significant impact on no-fault evictions, and look forward to the support of those Members who've spoken powerfully on this matter during this afternoon.

Thank you, First Minister for your statement this afternoon. I am a little surprised, as this is the first formal sitting of the Senedd, that you haven't chosen to put a formal apology on the record in relation to the exam debacle that happened only a week or so ago now, and I'd invite you to use this opportunity to put that formal apology on the record. In response to my colleague Laura Anne, you say the Welsh Government plan first then execute. It wasn't much of a plan that you put in place to stop a lot of children, teachers and parents suffering a lot of distress because of the algorithm that you used. So, could I invite you to put the apology on the record?

And, secondly, could I invite you to give us an answer as to how you are working with higher education facilities and also FE institutions as to how they will accommodate extra students that will now be chasing valuable places in those institutions? In other parts of the United Kingdom, they've set up special working groups between Government and the educational establishments to help facilitate these actions. 

Well, Llywydd, this recalled Senedd is specifically there for me to report on the coronavirus regulations. That's what I did. Other matters have been extensively discussed. I've made a number of statements, as has the education Minister, and everything we have said is already there on the record and I don't think it needed repetition this afternoon.

As to higher education, then of course we continue to be in very close conversation with our higher education institutions. A record number of young people from Wales are able to go to higher education next year, both in Wales and beyond. And there are record numbers of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who have secured university places, and I know that the Member will have welcomed all of that.

We now work with the sector to make sure that it is able to provide safely for the large number of young people who will be coming back to universities in Wales. And that's an important matter. I have considerable respect for the actions that higher education institutions are taking to make sure that young people can be looked after safely and can pursue their studies safely. We are seeing in some other parts of the world that the way that young people can behave outside that regulated setting, when they're not in the classroom and they're not in a hall of residence and so on—that the temptation of being back together again can lead young people to behave in ways that then lead them and others to be victims to the virus. So, our discussions with the sector have to go beyond the things for which they are directly responsible and for us to work together to make sure that young people have the best possible advice so, when they do return to college, they do so in a way that does not unintentionally add to the difficulties that coronavirus will place for us all during the autumn and the winter.

First Minister, Newport Live, the leisure services trust, provides a great deal of benefit in Newport in terms of sport and physical activity. Indeed, they've played a very major role in providing rehabilitation for COVID-19 patients. I'm sure you're aware of this. Thankfully, they now are returning to their classes and activities, and that's playing a very major role in increasing quality of life for local people. But there is a concern about forthcoming guidance and clarification of that, First Minister, in terms of facilities like the Newport velodrome, which has 16 courts and is a big wide open space. They're worried that some of the restrictions, such as limiting gatherings to 30 people, may apply to the whole of that space, rather than it being considered in terms of its constituent parts. I wonder if there's anything you might be able to say today in terms of those concerns and how the velodrome will be practically viewed in terms of the space that it has. 

Well, Llywydd, can I first of all agree with what John Griffiths said about the importance of rehabilitation? We are learning a lot about the long path to recovery from coronavirus for many people. It turns out not to be an illness from which you necessarily recover quickly or easily. My colleague, Vaughan Gething, in September, plans to issue a document that will set out our preparations for the winter here in Wales, and rehabilitation, I know, will be a very specific focus of that plan.

As to the velodrome itself, as I said in my opening statement, Llywydd, we will try three experiments during these three weeks in arts and sports, where up to 100 people can come together. Provided that can be done successfully, then we want to do more of that. But, in the way I explained to an earlier questioner, the way to do it in Wales is to pilot, to learn from that, and, when we're successful, to do more. We've done that throughout the crisis.

At the same time, we are also learning from some pilots that are to be resumed across our border. You will remember that there were plans to allow larger numbers of people to return to cricket matches, football matches and to horse racing. The UK Government had a number of pilots that it had identified that it then had to postpone because of the difficulties in the north of England. Those are now being resumed; we have a member of Welsh Government staff part of a group that's overseeing those pilots and, again, if they turn out to be successful and we can do more safely in Wales to reopen venues, then that is what we will wish to do, including the velodrome. But, once again, the public health lens will be the first lens, and, if we're satisfied that we can do something in a way that does not pose risks to participants and staff, then we will look to do more in those areas too.  

Thank you for your statement, First Minister. I've been contacted by a constituent who's extremely concerned that her son's carers are not being routinely tested. Her son is extremely vulnerable and she's taken every precaution to ensure that he is shielded from the virus, but they need the support of his carers. She's worried that one of them could unwittingly pass on COVID. First Minister, will you ensure that everyone working in the care sector is routinely tested, given the high levels of asymptomatic transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus we have seen in the past? First Minister, will you guarantee that expanding testing will be your Government's top priority?

We know that the majority of the population have not been exposed to this virus, and we also know that the virus can be spread by those without any symptoms. So, without regular random testing, this disease has the potential to spread like wildfire. First Minister, can you guarantee you are doing all that you can regarding testing to fight COVID-19? Thank you. 

Llywydd, can I thank Caroline Jones for those important questions? She will know that my colleague, Vaughan Gething, announced £32 million additional funding to support an expansion of our testing capacity as we go into the winter, where it will undoubtedly come under greater pressure because it's so difficult to distinguish between symptoms of colds, flus and coronavirus. Our TTP system has, I think, demonstrated its success here in Wales—90 per cent of index cases successfully contacted, 90 per cent of their contacts also successfully traced—but we've got to build on that and make sure that we're in a position to do more when the pressures grow. 

As to the testing of carers, I entirely understand why people who are responsible for looking after vulnerable individuals are anxious about those who come to provide that care. I hope they're able to draw some comfort from the fact that we have routinely tested carers in Wales, and the positivity rate amongst carers in Wales in the last period has been at 0.2 per cent. The virus is very effectively suppressed in Wales at the moment and that suppression has extended to carers as well, and our testing regime I think has demonstrated that. It's why we've been able to move to fortnightly testing of carers in residential care homes, and our testing system has capacity now to do more for those who feel that the nature of their work, or the nature of the care that they receive, needs more to be done in that area. 

Alun Davies.

Thank you very much, Presiding Officer, and thank you, First Minister, for your statement. I very much welcome your words today, and I know that the approach of the Welsh Government has continued to have the overwhelming support of the people I represent in Blaenau Gwent. There are two areas where I would like to ask you further questions, First Minister. The first is your approach to face coverings and masks. People are clearly moving around more and taking part in more public and social activities than they were some months ago. We understand that there is contradictory evidence, shall we say, on the use of face coverings and masks, but we're at a critical time. We’re at a critical time now, as we move beyond the summer into the autumn, where more of these activities will be taking place indoors. I very much agree with the point that was made earlier in this session by Lynne Neagle, my colleague in Torfaen, about what happens in supermarkets. Is it now the time to reconsider the Welsh Government's position on face coverings and masks, and extend the use of masks in enclosed public spaces?

The second question is that about the future of choirs. I should say that I'm president of the Beaufort male voice choir in Blaenau Gwent, and Blaenau Gwent, of course, has very many male voice and mixed choirs, all of which have been largely suspended over the last few months, and I'm going to an open-air practice with Beaufort next week in Eugene Cross Park in Ebbw Vale. But we won't be able to do that in November, and it's unlikely we'll be able to do that through the autumn, and I wanted to ask the First Minister whether he's given further consideration to the position of choirs and the choral tradition we have in Wales to enable choirs again to practice and then perhaps to hold events as we move forward. Thank you.

Llywydd, can I thank Alun Davies for both of those important questions? We keep the issue of face coverings under consideration all the time. While the virus is effectively suppressed in Wales, it does not seem proportionate to make it mandatory for people to wear face coverings in a blanket sort of way. In over half the local authorities in Wales last week there was not a single case of coronavirus. How is it proportionate to require people to wear face coverings when the virus is as low as that? But in our local lockdown plan, as Alun Davies will have seen, we do say very specifically that face coverings are part of the repertoire where a local flare-up happens and you have to intervene to suppress it in that local way. So, that remains our position. It's part of the repertoire. You use it where it is needed rather than impose, in a blanket way, a requirement to wear a face covering where the evidence of the current state of the virus in Wales does not make that proportionate.

I worry a lot about choirs for all the reasons that Alun Davies has said. I've read some very moving letters from people who have attended funerals in Wales during coronavirus, and they're generally very positively framed. People understand the context and they're appreciative of things that are done to allow funerals to take place, but a funeral in Wales without a singing of Calon Lân is something that people find very difficult. Somehow it just doesn't seem right to people. And the letters I've read make that point in a very powerful way.

I said in my opening statement, Llywydd, that we are going to use these three weeks to work with community centres and others to see whether we can reopen some small-scale indoor meetings as we go into the autumn for exactly the reasons that Alun Davies has said—that things that people can do outdoors now will not be possible by the time we get to November. We have to try our best to find ways in which some indoor social activities can resume for all the additional harms that Lynne Neagle pointed to in her question. Whether that will extend to choirs being able to rehearse and perform indoors—I'm afraid it is difficult to be optimistic. The act of singing by itself increases the velocity at which the virus can be distributed, and there have been some serious examples elsewhere in the world. Given the age and the underlying health conditions we know of many choir members in Wales, and while we continue to seek advice and we continue to look at the evolving evidence elsewhere, I'm afraid I can't sound optimistic about how quickly it will be possible for that sort of activity to resume indoors.

I thank the First Minister, and apologies to all those I was unable to call this afternoon because of time restrictions.

We will now move on to the motions on the health protection regulations, and, in accordance with Standing Order 12.24, unless any Member objects, the three motions under items 2, 3 and 4, the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 2) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, will be grouped for debate, but with votes taken separately. If there are no objections to that—and I don't see any objections to that grouping—we will therefore call on the Minister for health to introduce these items.